Serial devices have largely been superseded by the universal serial bus (USB). However, the widespread use of serial devices in the past means that many serial devices are still in use today. Accordingly, computer manufacturers still provide serial ports to interface with these legacy devices.
Serial devices are typically accommodated in network environments by providing dedicated servers, also referred to as “terminal servers,” for interfacing between one or more serial device and the network. However, the use of terminal servers is expensive and consumes energy, network ports, and storage space (e.g., on the server rack). Terminal servers may also be inefficiently designed, having too many network ports for the number of serial devices actually implemented on the network.
Alternatively, server computers may be provided with supplemental controllers which operate in conjunction with the universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) at the server computer to redirect serial port communications onto the network. However, supplemental controllers utilize the server's UART and operating system. Accordingly, if the server computer crashes, is turned off, or otherwise becomes unavailable, the serial port is also rendered unavailable to the network.